Protocol
Build a morphological box from the design dimensions
Make the option space visible before searching it.
When it fits
- A problem has several independent design choices and brainstorming keeps returning to a few familiar combinations.
When to avoid it
- A bad dimension set creates a bad search space. Revise the box when important options do not fit.
Why it matters
Choose a small set of dimensions that describe the solution architecture, then list plausible states for each dimension. Put dimensions as rows and states as cells. Keep dimensions as independent as practical; merge rows that are really the same choice.
Steps
- A complete candidate solution can be described by selecting one state from each relevant dimension.
An example
A training product varies feedback timing, practice format, difficulty adaptation and social mode. Listing each separately exposes combinations the team had never named.
Check your result
A complete candidate solution can be described by selecting one state from each relevant dimension.
Keep this limit in mind
- A bad dimension set creates a bad search space. Revise the box when important options do not fit.
Connected ideas
Use beforeForce combinations across dimensions to surface new options
Evidence and sources
General Morphological Analysis structures a multidimensional, often non-quantifiable problem space by defining parameters and investigating combinations and relationships among parameter states.
Morphological analysis structures a conceptual space; it is not a causal model and can still omit important dimensions or options.
Problem structuring using computer-aided morphological analysis · Abstract and method description
Morphological analysis is especially aimed at complex problem fields that are difficult to represent with a single quantitative or causal model.
Use simpler methods when the problem is already well specified and quantitative.
Problem structuring using computer-aided morphological analysis · Abstract